March 2011 Issue

Director of President Barack Obama’s Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes spoke about the importance of service and being an engaged citizen at Brandeis University Wednesday. “Citizenship, in my opinion, is a verb,” Barnes said to an audience of 200 in Levin Ballroom, advocating that citizens should play an active role in their communities. In a […]

Eetta Prince-Gibson, the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Report, spoke Monday in Rapaporte Treasure Hall about the obstacles that Israeli journalists face when covering the issues within their own country and explained some guidelines she has imposed at The Jerusalem Report in order to deal with these obstacles. Although Prince-Gibson has a degree in social work, […]

Charles J. Ogletree, the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, spoke Tuesday evening, about the publication of his new book, “The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Race, Class and Crime in […]

My grandmother, Helen Nachtigal, stared shyly ahead as I introduced her to a mass of eighth graders. At 4’7”, Helen was not much taller than her audience. After all, she was their age when the Holocaust started, and the subsequent years without food had severely stunted her growth. She was standing in front of these […]

“I would swim up the Amazon with 45-pound dumbbells tied to my scrotum and Ellen DeGeneres’ queef as my air supply if it meant I could eat a seafood dinner with you over Skype on a dial-up internet connection. Not serious … Kinda serious …” read the message a Brandeis sophomore received on OkCupid, one […]

When Fred Lawrence delivers his inaugural address Thursday afternoon inside the Gosman Athletic Center, the Brandeis community will gather in a far different context than it did on an October evening 63 years ago inside the walls of Symphony Hall to hear Abram Leon Sachar, the first university president, deliver his. The times have simply […]

Author Steve Almond read excerpts from his short stories and essays on Wednesday at an event sponsored by the creative writing department. After the reading, he discussed his approach to his frequently comic work and his decision to begin printing some of his works outside the world of mainstream publishing. Almond has had six of […]

Last week, we examined the negative effects radiation can have on the body and discussed the recent scare in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Again, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan, and there are still many ways you can help, such as by donating to the American Red Cross. As a continuation of […]

Tympanium Euphorium took on the wildly popular musical “Rent” in a joyful and energetic production that celebrated the high and low points of the bohemian lifestyle. Featuring powerful solos and impressive character acting, “Rent” was one of the most polished shows I’ve seen at Brandeis thus far. “Rent” is about a group of artists struggling […]

Sitting slumped against the window, I was fully aware of just how impossible it is to actually sleep comfortably on a bus. They have those foot stands for you, the ones that fold out and click into place, but let’s be real: you can’t sleep on a bus that easily. No one really sleeps; they […]